LAUSANNE, Switzerland (April 19, 2018) - LifeStraw®, a global leader in developing innovative filtration and purification products for safe drinking water, today announced in advance of Earth Day, that its water filtration products achieved a removal rate of 99.999% of microplastics from drinking water in independent lab testing. Microplastics are small plastic pieces that range from five millimeters long to 6.5 micron. The milestone comes on the heels of two recent studies conducted by Orb Media reporting that 93% of bottled water and 83% of tap water is contaminated with harmful microplastics.

The bottled water study examined 259 bottles from 11 popular bottled water brands across 19 locations in nine countries and found an average of 325 plastic particles in every liter of water sold, coming from the packaging and bottling process. The tap water study found that billions of people globally are drinking tap water contaminated by plastic particles.

“Single-use plastic bottles have long posed an environmental threat,” said Alison Hill, managing director of LifeStraw. “With recent reports on the affect bottled water has on human health, we have a responsibility to provide alternatives for safe hydration for consumers as well as communities in need and to minimize single-use plastic bottle pollution. LifeStraw has the solution.”

Independent testing this week confirmed that LifeStraw’s single-stage and two-stage filtration systems achieve a microplastics removal rate of log 5 (99.999%) from contaminated water, while also removing bacteria and chemicals. LifeStraw’s consumer water filtration products provide reliable and versatile alternatives to bottled water enabling safe hydration from a local tap or nearby river or stream. One LifeStraw product provides up to 8,000 water bottles worth of safe drinking water, reducing the need for single-use plastic bottles that are polluting the world’s oceans.

LifeStraw’s 2018 product portfolio includes LifeStraw Personal, Steel, Go 2-Stage, Play, Universal, Flex and Mission, each available for purchase online and at specialty retail. Through its Giving Back Through Retail program, for every product purchased, LifeStraw provides one child in a community in need with safe drinking water for an entire year.

LifeStraw is committed to working with company partners to advocate for the reduction of disposable plastic water bottles, to reduce the plastic used in its products and packaging, to only work with plastic materials that are recyclable, and to performing routine manufacturing assessments to identify product components that can be made from recycled or upcycled plastic water bottles and ocean plastics.

About LifeStraw: LifeStraw focuses on innovation of technology that converts microbiologically contaminated water into safe drinking water with products that are designed to fit the needs of the people that use them. The first LifeStraw was the LifeStraw Guinea Worm Filter introduced in 1996, which has been instrumental in the near-eradication of Guinea worm disease. In 2005, the personal LifeStraw filter was introduced for use in developing countries, and the technology has since been time-tested in some of the harshest environments and humanitarian emergencies since then. Today, LifeStraw is used in 64 countries and includes filters and purifiers for households, clinics, schools, and for outdoor recreation, travel and everyday personal use. LifeStraw is sold in North America in retail stores and online at www.lifestraw.com.

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